sick cockatiel

[polina]

Hello.
I have a 10 year old cockatiel. He's been sick for (kind of) a month now. The thing is, I'm not sure if he's even sick anymore or that he's just changed his behaviour. There are barely any avian vets where I live and my current one told me that she doesn't know what else could my bird's sickness be. I know I won't get any diagnosis in here, and I'm not even looking for that, I just want to know your thoughts, tips and maybe similar experiences that someone else's had with their birb.

My vet gave medication to give for 15 days, and my tiel seen to be feeling better but he hurted sometimes. He started singing, beak grinding, being curious and overall more active, but he would close his eyes and puff up as if he was hurting. Also, when he sung he would do it for one minute or so and inmediately get tired and sleep again, as if he was happy but out of energy. When the 15 day period ended, he seemed to finally recover, but after five days (yesterday) I noticed he was acting weird again, something seemed off. Today I watched him all morning and he definitely is feeling bad again, he closes his eyes more than usual (when he's happy and sane he doesn't sleep that much). He's been sleeping / with his eyes closed for around 1-2h now. What's confusing me is that he sometimes still grinds his beak as if he was content and relaxed and even sang for a while. He ate, not a lot but still a decent amount. For me it seems that he's happy but that sometimes there's something bothering him / hurting him. Also, he cleans himself all the time and his droppings are fine aswell.

Soon I'm going to see another vet, the last option I have in my city, so this time I might hopefully get better medication. Still, my tiel hates hands and freaks out when we catch him or take him to the vet. Last time we did, he stressed a lot and was hyperventilating, breathing so hard. I don't want to take him to the vet again because I'm scared he will have a heart attack. The vet doesn't even touch him and barely looks at him, so I don't know what's the need of taking him when I could just explain him what's happened and talk about his behaviour. I'm so worried.

I hope I get a response, I'm so confused and worried that my bird seems happy but sick at the same time, as I read that birds don't do both at the same time. I apologize for possible typos, since english isn't my first language. Thanks.

Btw, the picture is my tiel right know. He's sleeping on one foot, most of the times only one eye is closed and I think he's in pain. He's cleaning himself tho, but it's still concerning me so much.

 

[sunnysmom]

Welcome to the forum. Your English is great and your tiel is very cute. How often would you say your bird sleeps? So, he's sleeping more than he did? Everything else seems normal?

@enigma731 ?

 

[enigma731]

What tests and treatment has he had? What were his symptoms before?

 

[polina]

Welcome to the forum. Your English is great and your tiel is very cute. How often would you say your bird sleeps? So, he's sleeping more than he did? Everything else seems normal?

@enigma731 ?

Hello! Thanks for replying. My tiel usually sleeps only at night, but if me or my parents ever take a nap, he naps with us. Today he's definitely been sleeping more than usual, I don't even think it's sleeping exactly, maybe squinting? I just can't tell the difference between those two.

 

[polina]

What tests and treatment has he had? What were his symptoms before?

Hello, thanks for replying!
He didn't pass through any tests, the only possible one was to make a blood analysis but the vet herself said that it was very risky since he could pass away easily from it. What we did though was a dropping analysis but it came out perfectly fine.

The medication we gave him was baytril and it always worked for him when he got sick in the past, but this time it gave no results. I don't remember the name of the second one, I'll call my vet tomorrow to know though, but it seemed like it helped him but little, since he was still feeling off and in pain.

Before the second treatment he had watery droppings and diarrhea. He would sleep / have his eyes closed most of the time and not be active at all. He wouldn't even eat some days, but at night time he always felt okay and ate a lot. If he ever ate in the daytime it would usually be millet. After a week of treatment he seemed to be feeling better, and some days he even wanted to sing and play, but got tired so fast and inmediately closed his eyes again, as if he was hurting or out of energy.

When we were giving him medication we had to catch and hold him in the hands (which he hates) and give 0.1ml of it directly to his beak. My mum and I now are wondering what went wrong, maybe we didn't give enough dosis of it (since my tiel moved a lot in our hands and sometimes a little medication would fall off) or if the medication itself wasn't really effective. After the prescribed 15 days ended, the next 5 he was feeling better and didn't close his eyes randomly during the day at all. He was vocal, playful and visibly happy.

I watched him this entire morning-evening and he spent most of it sleeping or squinting (I can't tell the difference). His droppings are normal so I can't even suspect what might be the problem. He ate normally, sang for a little and did beak grinding, but I can see something's bothering and hurting him most of the time.

 

[Veritgo01]

Hi. At this point I would have to ask how cold is it in your house? Also, you mentioned that he mostly eats millet. What other things does he eat? Diet is extremely important with these birds.

Is there any nutritionist on here that could add their two cents?

 

[polina]

Hi. At this point I would have to ask how cold is it in your house? Also, you mentioned that he mostly eats millet. What other things does he eat? Diet is extremely important with these birds.

Is there any nutritionist on here that could add their two cents?

Hello! It's around 22°C in my house (71.6 degrees), but I know he's not cold because when he is he asks us to be with him in a specific room in the house. He eats millet but his main food are seeds, and sometimes we offer him food such as buckwheat, eggs, rice and fruits. He has eaten like this since he was little and there was never a problem with it, so I doubt it's diet related.

 

[Veritgo01]

Hello! It's around 22°C in my house (71.6 degrees), but I know he's not cold because when he is he asks us to be with him in a specific room in the house. He eats millet but his main food are seeds, and sometimes we offer him food such as buckwheat, eggs, rice and fruits. He has eaten like this since he was little and there was never a problem with it, so I doubt it's diet related.

Thanks for the reply. The next step is to look into what could be in the area that may be affecting your tiel. Is your bird around the kitchen where fumes from cookware (teflon) could give the bird breathing issues? Also, fragrances used in plug-ins and candles can cause harm as well.

Lastly, I found out that air purifiers with the ionizer are harmful since they thicken the oxygen and makes it hard for your bird to breath.

 

[polina]

Thanks for the reply. The next step is to look into what could be in the area that may be affecting your tiel. Is your bird around the kitchen where fumes from cookware (teflon) could give the bird breathing issues? Also, fragrances used in plug-ins and candles can cause harm as well.

Lastly, I found out that air purifiers with the ionizer are harmful since they thicken the oxygen and makes it hard for your bird to breath.

Hello, sorry for the late reply! Yes, when he's in the kitchen with us he usually sits next to a ventilation fan (NOT the chimney thingy where the food is being cooked), but he's been sitting there all his life and never had a problem. Actually, that's one of his favorite spots. Besides that, we don't use candles or anything alike. I doubt it's a respiratory problem.


I don't know, during the day he's with his eyes closed (he eats well though) but there's moments, mostly at night, where he is definitely happy (he sings sometimes, beak grinds, walks around our home...). It's so weird.

 

[finchly]

If he mostly eats seed he is probably deficient in a few vitamins, including A, D3, and possibly calcium.

Do you give him vitamins?

He can eat vegetables, search this forum there are tons of lists and suggestions. My tiels like sweet potato, corn, peas, chopped kale, and cooked carrots.

Please try this. For one week, add apple cider vinegar to his water. You want to use the organic kind “with the mother” and add 15 ml of vinegar to 1 liter of water.

 

[polina]

If he mostly eats seed he is probably deficient in a few vitamins, including A, D3, and possibly calcium.

Do you give him vitamins?

He can eat vegetables, search this forum there are tons of lists and suggestions. My tiels like sweet potato, corn, peas, chopped kale, and cooked carrots.

Please try this. For one week, add apple cider vinegar to his water. You want to use the organic kind “with the mother” and add 15 ml of vinegar to 1 liter of water.

Yes! We do give him vitamins for 5 days twice a month, but we also give him some fruits and veggies. I start to think that maybe he doesn't have any illness, maybe he's just getting old? Is that possible or tiels don't usually behave like this when old?